‘Koimburi arrested for questioning how public funds were used to campaign for Raila’ – Karungo wa Thang’wa
Kiambu Senator Karungo wa Thang’wa says Juja MP George Koimburi was arrested on Tuesday, February 18, 2025, after questioning how public funds were used to campaign for Raila Odinga in the failed African Union Commission (AUC) quest.
In a series of statements on social media, Thang’wa, who visited the MP at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) headquaters along Kiambu road, said the MP had been detained without an official charge sheet.
“I’m currently at DCI headquarters in solidarity with Hon. George Koimburi, MP for Juja, who has been arrested and detained without an official charge sheet. Nani complainant? Wanasema ni STATE accusing him of cybercrime over something he verbally said—absolutely absurd,” Thang’wa stated
Thang’wa later shared a charge sheet showing that Koimburi would be charged with false publication of information contrary to Section 22(1) of the Computer Misuse and Cybercrime Acts No.5 of 2018.
“This is what Hon. Koimburi, MP for Juja, is being charged for—simply for questioning how public funds were used to campaign for Rao. Seems Raila’s defeat really hit some people hard,” Thang’wa captioned the charge sheet.
According to the charge sheet, the MP’s offenses stem from comment he made during a church gathering in his Kiambu on Sunday, February, 16, 2025.
“On 16th February, 2025 at PCEA Juja Farm parish, Judea Presbetary “Tuko ha hofu katika Jamuhuri la Kenya sababu ya kuona pesa za Umma zikitumika vibaya kwenda kuhonga watu ndio waweza kumchagua Raila Amollo Odinga awe Chaimran wa AU huko Addis Ababa. ni aibu kubwa sana ambayo tumeiona siku ya jana, kuona William Ruto akijaribu kuhonga ma president wengine ndio waweze kumpigia kura Raila Amollo Odinga na zile pesa ambazo anataka kutumia ni pesa za Umma pesa ambazo wamelipa kodi…” knowingly to be false and calculated to advocate unrest that would constitute incitement to the government of Kenya,” the charge sheet read in part.
This is what Hon. Koimburi, MP for Juja, is being charged for—simply for questioning how public funds were used to campaign for Rao. Seems Raila’s defeat really hit some people hard. #ReleaseKoimburi pic.twitter.com/IvqbTajn2L
— Sen. Karungo wa Thang’wa (@KarungoThangwa) February 18, 2025
While commenting on the just concluded race for the AUC chairmanship, the MP claimed that the government spent to the tune of Ksh13 billion campaigning for Raila Odinga.
Bribery
The lawmaker while decrying the wastage of taxpayers’ money, added that part of the money was used to bribe African presidents to vote in Odinga during the concluded continental elections in Addis Ababa.
A battery of lawyers have come to the MP’s defence terming the grounds for his arrest as frivolous.
Led by Ndegwa Njiru and Senator Daniel Maanzo, the lawyers inquired why the MP is yet to be officially charged with any offence.
Maanzo has further asked the prosecution to fast-track the process of charging the MP, as he declared their readiness to meet them in court.
“We have been here in the DCI offices to seek Koimburi’s release. He is being charged with offence under Cybercrime Act, Section 22 of data violation. We have been told they have taken him to Kamukunji and refused to give him bail. We looking to seek his bail,” Ndegwa Njiru said.
“I want to tell those who conducted the arrest to hurry up and take him to court. We will oppose the charges. They should hurry and bring him before a court. Those are frivolous allegations and cannot stand in a court of law,” Maanzo added.
Koimburi first came to parliament via a by-election in 2021 through the People’s Empowerment Party, a party then affiliated with Moses Kuria.
AUC elections postmortem
The MP’s arrest comes as politicians engage in the postmortem exercise following Odinga’s failed quest for the AUC top seat on Saturday, February 15, 2025.
Many have pointed an accusing finger at William Ruto’s government for the loss, citing its diplomatic gaffes and the regime’s unpopularity both at home and across the continent. Senator Joe Nyutu, a strong supporter of former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, is among those who alluded to the president’s diplomatic stand on several diplomatic issues as key to Raila’s defeat.
“There were many blunders that the president committed and I think, ultimately, this is what cost us. Of course, there were these factors about francophone countries who voted as a bloc and Islamic countries who also voted as a bloc; but looking at the result of the first and the second round, I think that is not what was at play,” Nyutu noted.
“After the second round, what cost us were the blunders of the president and this is about his position on the Palestinian conflict with Israel, where he was seen to have sided with Israel and that may have cost us all the Muslim state vote.”
